Method of making shoes.



H. ERBACH & J. J. SAXE.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24. 1915.

Patented Nov. 16, 1915.

human srarns rarniar ornrcn.

HARRY ERBACI-I AND JOSEPH J.

SAXE, or nocnnsrnn, new YORK,ASSIG1\TORS T0 w. B.

COON COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATIDN' OF NEW YORK.

METHOD OF MAKING sHoEs.

Application filed. June 24., 1915.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that we, HARRY ERBACI-I and Josnrrr J. SAxn, citizens of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method of making a shoe with a thin flexible insole of any suitable material or combination of materials.

Another object of the invention is to arrange the method of making the shoe so as to insure accuracy and uniformity in the prod uct andpermit the use of standard shoe making machinery for sewing the insole, upper and welt together.

These and other objects of the invention will be fully illustrated in the drawings, described in thespecification and pointed out in the claims at the end thereof.

In the drawings, Figure l isa bottom plan view of the insole and filler or form as it is prepared for use on the last for the making of the shoe. Fig. 2 is a cross section of the insole and filler the section beingtaken on the line 2 -2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the carboard filler or form that is used in connection with the insole shown in Fig. 1. Fig. i is a vertical, transverse section through the last the section showing the insole, the filler or form, the upper and the welt in position with the inseam sewed on the one side and not sewed on the other side. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the last showing the upper and insole assembled thereon.

In the drawings like reference numerals refer to like parts.

In the drawings reference numeral 1 indicates a form which is made preferably of cardboard or any other suitably stiff material.

2 indicates a flexible insole which is made of one thickness of material or two or more layers of material, the insole being formed preferably of thin flexible leather with or without a reinforcement, the reinforcement if used being preferably of canvas or other suitable material. The material for the insole is first cut to the desired size and the parts thereof assembled if the insole is to be made in two or more layers and the cardboard filler therefor is then placed on the bottom thereof, so that the top or finished Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented as. re, i915.

Serial No. 36,160.

side of the leather will occuron the inside of the finished shoe and next to the sole of the foot. The insole is made symmetrically larger than the filler and has a margin that extends out around the cardboard filler.

This-margin is turned over as indicated at 3 andis cemented down on the filler, so that the filler is held between the insole and the down turned margin, the outline of the in sole conforming to the form of the filler, except that at the heel the material of the insole may if desired be left unturned as shown in Fig. 1.

After the insole has been prepared in this way'it is ready forapplication to the sole of the last. The insole and form is tacked to the bottom or sole of the last with the side exposed in Fig. 1 outward, the filler being on the exposed side. The upper'is fastened to the last in the ordinary manner, being tacked down to the last around the edges in proper position forsewing to the insole, see Fig. 5 in which the tacks are driven through the upper into the sole of the last. A considerable number of thesetacks are driven when the upper is first fastened in-place most ofwhich are removed just before sewing, a few anchor tacks being left in during the sewing operation, just enough to hold the upper in place for sewing. Afterthe upper and the insole have been brought together on the last, as above described, the parts can be sewed together, this sewing being done on any of the standard machines that are regularly used for sewing a channeled Goodyear insole to the upper and we'lt. Such machines are provided with a channel opener which lifts the material along the channel to permit, the awl and needle of the machine which follow the channel opener to reach the bottom of the channel directly, such machines being shown, for example'in the following patents. 904,604, Currier, Nov. 24., 1903. 935,726, Elley, Oct. 5, 1909-. 835,513, Fuller, Nov. 13, 1906.

According to our improved method the channel opener of the machine is first introduced under the dow nturned cemented edges of the insole to permit the introduction of which the edge of the insole, for a short distance, is torn loose from the filler or form to which it has been cemented, and the machine is then started and the shoe is fed through the machine, the shoe being started in the machine with the channel opener inserted under the loosened portion of the edge of the insole. As the shoe is fed through the machine the channel opener lifts the one or more layers of the downturned edge of the insole tearing it loose from its cemented adhesion to the filler, and permits the awl and needle of the machineto reach directly to the crease of the insole along the edge of the form, sewing the insole 2, upper 4 and welt 5 together along this crease, the

seam that is so formed being referred to as the inseam and is indicated by the reference numeral 6. The insole, being made of flexible material, can not be depended upon to hold its shape when bent to the desired outline in the absence of the filler, but with the insole attached to the margin of thefiller on the exposed side by cement and to the concealed side of the filler aswell, if so desired, the outline of the insole is positively andeven rigidly defined by the filler, and as the machine operates to sew, only a small portion of the turned edge ofthe insole is detached at a time from the filler during the sewing operation, and immediately thereafter the insole, at that point, is sewed to the upper and welt, the shape or position of which is determined by the last so that between the definite outline of the filler and the rigidity of the last, the insole, upper and welt are fastened together along an accurately located seam. It will be understood that the space intervening between the channel open, which breaks the cement, and the needle, which fastens the material with the thread, is usually less than three quarters of an inch so that the flexible material of the insole has practically no chance whatever to get out of shape, the seam being accurately located in the short portion of the crease in the margin of the insole along the edge of the filler that is exposed by the operation of the machine between the cemented portionat one end and the sewed portion at the other end. In Fig. 4 we have shown this scam sewed on the one side of the insole but not sewed on the other side. After the sewing of the insole has been completedthe margin of the insole is no longer cemented to-the fillerbut has been torn loose therefrom and the filler or a part thereof may be removed or it may be left in the insole and worked up therewith as a part of the shoe. If apart of the filler is removed it will ordinarily be the front part from the toe to the ball of the foot, the portion that is left in such case being used as a part of the, shank piece of the shoe. After the parts have been sewed together, as above described, the surplus margin of the insole, over and above what is necessary to protect the seam, can be trimmed off and the insole can be leveled up if so desired in any of the ways that are well known to the trade in the making of Goodyear welt shoes, after which an outsole can be fastened to the welt.

Instead of sewing the insole, upper and welt together by a machine, this sewing may be performed by hand, either operation being within the scope of our invention. If sewed up by hand, the crease will be opened up by the operator as the stitching progresses, the opening being made sufiiciently long to conveniently accommodate the stitchlng operation.

The seam between the insole, the upper and welt will be located preferably inside of the margin of the last approximately or 3,; of an inch, although if desired this seam may be located practically at the edge of the last, but in either cases the edge of the last need not be chamfered or beveled, it being understood that sewing can be accomplished on a last that has a square edge. It

will be understood that the location of the scam in every case will not be determined by the width of the last, but by the width of the insole as determined by the width of the form or filler therein, and the seam will be near to or remote from the edge of the last according as the edge of the insole, when fastened on the last, occurs near to or remote from the edge of the last. It will also be understood that the sewing of the inseam is confined to the downturned edge of the insole and does not extend to the heel part of the insole that may be left fiat. The edge of the insole may be turned down clear around the form in which case the inseam would extend clear around the insole, including the heel. As shown in Fig. 1, however, the heel of the insole is not turned and the welt is omitted at that point and the upper and insole are not sewed together at that point but the margin of the upper is drawn over the insole and is lasted in at the heel seat by the ordinary method used in shoe making.

The foregoing describes the novel features of our invention. The finishing of the shoe through the various steps such as filling up the insole, laying outsoles, seat nailing, etc., will be performed in the manner that is well known in the art.

We claim:

1. The method of making shoes comprising cutting out of flexible material an insole, and out of stifi material a form or filler having an outline similar to that of the insole but being smaller than the latter, placing the form symmetrically upon the bottom face of the insole, bending marginal portions of the insole down about the edge of the form, cementing said marginal portions to the bottomface of the form, temporarily fastening said insole and an upper in proper positions upon a last, and permanently fastening said upper to said marginal portions of the insole by a seam extending along the edge of said form.

2. The method of making shoes comprising cutting out of flexible material an insole, and out of stiff material a form or filler having an outline similar to that of the insole but being smaller than the latter, placing the form symmetrically upon the bottom face of the insole, bending marginal portions of the insole down about the edge of the form, cementing said marginal portions to the bottom face of the form, temporarily fastening said insole and an upper in proper positions upon a last, and permanently fastening said upper to said marginal portions of the insole by a seam extending along the edge of said form, the edge of the insole being lifted from the form as the seam is sewed.

3. The method of making shoes comprising cutting out of flexible material an insole, and out of stiff material a form or filler having an outline similar to that of the insole but being smaller than the latter, placing the form symmetrically upon the bottom face of the insole, bending marginal portions of the insole down about the edge of the form, cementing said marginal portions to the bottom face of the form, temporarily fastening said insole and an upper in proper pos tions upon a last, and permanently fastening said upper and a Welt to said marginal portions of the insole by a seam extending along the edge of said form.

4. The method of making shoes comprising cutting out of flexible material an insole, and out of stiff material a form or filler having an outline similar to that of the insole but being smaller than the latter, placing the form symmetrically upon the bottom face of the insole, bending marginal portions of the insole down about the edge of the form, cementing said marginal portions to the bottom face of the form, temporarily fastening said insole and an upper in proper positions upon a last, and permanently fas tening said upper and a Welt to said marginal portions of the insole by a seam extending along the edge of said form, the edge of the insole being lifted from the form as the seam is sewed.

In testimony Whereof We affix our signatures. 4

HARRY ERBACH. JOSEPH J. SAXE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

' Washington, D. G. 

